Elastomer supported vibratory feeder motor



Oct. 6, 1953 w. v. sPuRuN Y 5 43 ELASTOMER SUPPORTED VIBRATORY FEEDER MOTOR Filed Dec. 26, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I "Ni 28 I 3 27 1 INVENTOR, 2 v 2 V/'///'am l Spur/M Oct. 6, 1953 w. v. SPURLIN 2,654,466

ELASTOMER SUPPORTED VIBRATORY FEEDER MOTOR Filed Dec. 26, 1950 4 Shets-Shet 2 IN VEN TOR.

. 6, 1953 w. v. SPURLIN I .ELASTOMER SUPPORTED VIBRATORY FEEDER MOTOR Filed Dec. 26. 1950 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 m 1M m w W Spur/in 1 His Afforn'qg.

w. v. SPURLIN ELASTOMER SUPPORTED VIBRATORY FEEDER MOTOR Filed Dec. 26, 1950 Oct. 6, was

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOI-L: /V/W/om L Spur/1h His Affameg,

Patented Oct. 6, 1953 ELASTOMER SUPPORTED VIBRATORY FEEDER MOTOR William V. Spurlin, Indiana, Pa assignor to Syntron Company, Homer City, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application December 26, 1950, Serial-No. 202,738

This invention. relates generally to feeder motors and more particularly to a vibratory feeder motor having an elastomer springsupported. frame which. carries the feeder or conveyor- The principal object of this invention is the provision of. an. elastomer spring for supporting a frameon whichv the conveyor is mountedfor vibration. and wherein the vibration isin thepath Another object ofthis invention is the pro vision oi an elastomer spring: means for supporting the. vibratory structure of a. conveyor which is. designed to: either convey the: material ina circular. path or a straight path.

Another object or this invention is the: provi sion or an elastomer supported vibratory motor that. is. readily tuned. to. within. a-- few cycles of the frequency of the pulsating driving current so that/the mechanicalvibratory systemwillfollow in. stepwith. the 4 pulsating drivingcurrent;

Another object ofthis: invention. is? the provision. of. an elastomer spring. for. supporting. a vibratory system wherein. the elastomer isunder shear insupporting the member for vibration in: aplanethat. isat-an angle to the: horizontal relative. to, the frame being; vibrated.

Another. object. of thisinvention. is the pro-- vision. ofspecificstr-uctural features of an elastomer. spring meansfor supporting the vibratory member of anelectromechanical vibratory motor:

Other objects and. advantages appear herein after. inthe following description and. claims;

The.accompanying.drawings show for the 'pur-' pose of exemplification without limiting. the: in ventionv or. claims. thereto,- certainpractical embodimentsof. theinvention wherein:

Fig. L is aview in sidoelevation oil a circular conveyor withthe. casing broken away to show some; parts in. elevation.

Fig..2.is.a planview ofthe structure shownin Fig.3 is-a sideelevation of-.the*structure shown in Fig. 1

FigA-ds a: side.elevation.- of. a circular conveyor with: some'parts broken away and othenparts.-

shown. in section to illustrate a different character of elastomer supporting means Fig. 5 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation with parts broken away and in section.- to illustrate a longitudinal conveyor supportedby an elastomer spring.

Fig. '7 is an end" elevation of the structure shownin Fig. 6.

Fig.8 is, a side elevationshowing another 'form of a conveyor motor.

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of" the structure shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a side elevation partly insection i ll ustrating a conveyor motor having a preloaded elastomer. spring member.

Fig. ll is an end view of the structure shown in. 10. A

Fig- 12 is a sectional view of a modified form of a spring loaded elastomer spring member.

l3 is a view insideelevation of a conveyor supported by fiat elastomer spring means with the elastomer in shear.

14 is a. view in horizontal section taken on the line [4-H of IE3.

Fig. 15 is a view in vertical section taken along the line I i-J5- of Fig-131 Referring to Figs. I to 3 of the drawings l represents a heavy massive base which is a heavy casting. supported bythe rubber feet 2' and having mountedthereon the annular casing- 3' and the control housing 4: which contains the rheostat 5 and-the rectifierst; v F

Fhe casting I hasa hollow circular center 1 as indicated in- Fig. 2 for the purpose ofreceiving. the electromagnetic field member- 8 which is made up of the core l0- having the threepole faces ll,- It and. I 3 Aroundthe center pole F2- is mounted-the coil member M. Thecore mom ber I0 is mounted on the square plate l5 which is-secured-by the studs I 6 to the base as indicated in theclrawings. The topor heavy base casting I is provided-with threaded openings to receive the assembly bolts IT for the elastomer spring attaching member or bracket means t8: There are-fourelastomer springs ZlL-Zl, 22- and2'3. The other bracket 24 ofeach ofthe spring members is secured: to theunderside of the frame member 25' by thebolts 26 as shown in Fig. 1-. Theframe member 25 in thisinst'ance' is an annular deck which is constructed to support a bowl typefeeder or" an: inclined: feeder for conveying ma-' terial fromoneelevaition to another, the article conveyor traclobeing in-the' form of a spiral or a-helix.

As shown in Fig. 3 the rheostat is provided with a dial 21. The switch 23 functions to energize the coil 14 through the rheostat and the half-wave rectifier in series with a suitable a1- ternating current supply. The half-wave rectifier allows an impulse every cycle and the elastomer spring members to 23, inclusive, are tuned so that the load which includes a filled conveyor bowl will vibrate in synchronism with the pulsating currents and the natural period of vibration should be a few cycles from the frequency of the pulsating current, but not in synchronism therewith.

The structure as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is likewise a bowl feeder such as shown in Fig. 1.

However the base casting is supported by v the rubber feet 30 and it is likewise provided with an annular opening 7 for receiving the core member 10 which carries the electromagnet coil M and is supported by the plate I5 on the underside thereof, which plate is bolted to the studs IS in the same manner as that shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

The base casting 30 is provided with four sloping holes 3|, each of which is placed at 90 from the other around the casting as shown. The slope of the holes 3| is substantially from the horizontal.

The openings 3| are provided with an annular shoulder 32 at the lower end and a tube to provide an annular shoulder 33 at the upper end. Each of these shoulders is normal to the axis of the opening 3|.

Each of the holes 3| is provided with a dual elastomer spring element 34 which comprises an outer cylindrical shell member 35, which has a flange 36 seated on the annular shoulders at the end of each openin and an inner tube member 31 with the elastomer material 38 being vulcanized between the shell member 35 and the tube 31 and having its ends undulated as illustrated at 39.

The tubes 38 are constructed to receive the bolt 40 which is secured in the threaded opening in the lugs 4|. The ends of the elastomer members 34 and their tubes 37 project beyond their cylinders 35 for engagement. The ends of the bolts 49 have washers 42 for engaging the protruding ends of the springs which are held in locked position by the nuts 43. By taking up the nuts 43 the tubes 3! may be drawn toward one another and thereby displace both of the elastomer members accordingly as flexure permits axial movement of the stud 59. Thus the clastomer material between the shells and the tubes is placed under shear. By tightening the bolts 40, a certain amount of shear is placed on each of the elastomer members to preload them to tune the same so that the frame 54, which is thus resiliently supported for vibration with its feeder bowl or other conveyor member 55, is designed to have a natural period of a few cycles from the driving frequency of the pulsating driving current.

It will be noted that the armature 53 is disposed directly above the core member 10 and is drawn downwardly by the same. However, the disposition of the elastomer members being at an angle relative to the magnetic force causes the frame member 64 to be vibrated at an angle relative to the horizontal and the elastomer members with their respective studs 40 guide the up and down movement of the frame member 45.

As shown in Fig. 5 there are four sets of elastomer elements disposed at quadrilateral positions about the base 30. This device may also be provided with a vibratory motor, rheostat, and rectifier similar to that shown in Fig. 1. However such a control is not shown in these views.

The structure shown in Figs. 6 and 7 comprises a heavy base casting supported by the elastomer elements 5| and is provided with standards 52 which have cylindrical sockets 53 at the upper end thereof for receiving the elastomer supporting members 54, there being two in each of the four sockets 53. Elastomer members 54 are similar in construction to the elastomer members 34 in Figs. 4 and 5 and comprise the outer shells 35 with their outwardly projecting annular flange 33 and the central tube 31 with the elastomer material 38 vulcanized to the adjacent annular surfaces of the tube and the shell. The conveyor frame member 55 is provided with three depending flanges 56, 57 and 58 for the purpose of attaching and supporting the same by the spring members 54, Each of the flanges 56, 51 and 58 is rigid relative to the frame construction. 7

Each of the flanges is secured to the stud 40 by means of the nuts 43. A spacer 66 is inserted between the flanges and the elastomer members 54 to provide ample clearance for vibration of the frame 55. The spacers 6U engage the inner tube of the elastomer material. By tightening the nuts 43 at either end of the bolt 40 the elastomer members 54 are placed under compression, each being drawn toward one another, and placing the elastomer material of each spring in shear. When the spacers 60 are properly selected to position the frame, the armature BI is supported from the core member 62 to provide the proper operating air gap. The electromagnetic motor comprises the armature 6|, the core member 62 and the coil member 33, the last two of which are mounted on the frame 64 that is adjustably secured on the lug 65 by means of the adjusting bolts 66. Additional weight 6'! is provided on the base 50 to provide transmission of the maximum amount of vibratory movement to the frame 55. The frame 55 supports the longitudinal conveyor trough 68 and the motion of the magnetic lines of force is parallel to that of the flexure or movement of the elastomer members 54 which is angular relative to the surface of the trough.

The structure as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 has a similar vibratory feeder mechanism to that just described. The base 10 is provided with the upstanding brackets !l and 72, the first of which supports the vibratory spring member indicated at 13. The motor 74 is constructed somewhat different than the electromagnetic motors as shown in the other views. The motor member 74 is made up of the core members 15 and '16 which are secured to the face of the bracket 12. On each side of the core is an elastomer spring member 7'! which comprises the outer cylindrical case 18 and. the inner coaxial tube member 19 between which the elastomer member is vulcanized. The bolt 82 passes through the tube member for the purpose of holding thearmature member 83 in spaced relation to. the pole faces of the core member 15. The armature member 83 on the plate 84 is secured in place by means of the bolts on the outer end of the spacer member BI. The plate 8 3 extends across the electromagnetic motor and has the armature 83 bolted thereto. The bolts also secure rigid frame member 85 to the plate 83. The frame member 85 likewise extends to the rear and is provided with the depending arm 86 which vgber 85 is resiliently supported on the elastomer members for vibration. The vibration is delivered by the motor 14 along the axis ofthe bolts that pass through the inner tubular members of the elastomer spring means.

Referring now to Figs. 10, 11 and 12 the base 90 is provided with supporting members BI, 92 and 93, the first and the last support members 9| and 93 are constructed to carry the elastomer spring members, whereas the intermediate member 92 is constructed to carry the electromagnetic vibratory motor 94 which comprises a core member and an electromagnetic coil. The armature 95 is secured to the frame 96 which is rigid and the members to be vibrated are supported there- The elastomer spring members as shown in this construction are the same as that shown at 34 in Fig. 4 and comprise the casing member 35 with the annular flange 36 and the central tubing 31 with the elastomer material 38 vulcanized therebetween. Each of the elastomer spring members 34 is mounted on a bolt 91 with helical spring 98 between the washers 99 for the purpose of allowing the. elastomer springs 34 to work without or with preload. A spacer I is employed between the arm IOI of the frame 96, r

the bolt, and the uppermost elastomer member 34.

Two of the elastomer members are mounted in the tubing I02 which is bolted to the plates I03 by means of the bolts I04. The two elastomer members 34 in each pocket lie in tandem and two sets of the same are placed in multiple as shown in Fig. 11.

In the structure shown in Fig. 12 one elastomer member 34 is placed alone in the cylinder I02 and between the plates I03, but in place of having an additional elastomer member to preload each other the helical spring I05 is employed which is pressed against the washer I06 that engages the outer sleeve member 35 at one end and the washer I01, and the other end is pressed against the nuts I08 thereby placing .a shearing load on the elastomer material, 38. Thus a preload force can be placed on the vibratory elastomer members by means of a coil spring or by using one elastomer member against the other.

The structures shown in Figs. 13, 14 and 15 disclose a heavier motor for conveyors or screens wherein the motor frame H0 is a massive casting having spaced end slots III for receiving the elastomer spring members II2 for supporting the bar I I3 that is secured to the armature frame II4 by means of the bolt H5 and ring IIS which clamps the bar against the seat In that is provided with a centering lock in the form of the screw II8.

The armature I20 is secured on one end of the frame H4 and is supported in operative spaced relation relative to the pole faces of the core I2I of the coil I22 of the vibratory motor I23. This motor is supported by the plates I24 bolted to the ribs I25.

The ends I26 of the bar II3 are reduced and extend into the slots III. These reduced end portions I26 are supported between four elastomer spring means I2! constructed of rubber or some other elastomer I28 vulcanized to the outer and inner shear plates I30 both of which are as wide as the slot I I I but less than half as long.

fix

6 The ends of eachof the outer shear plates I30 are seated in the corners I3I of the C blocks I32 and the inner ends of each'of the inner shear plates I30 are seated in the corners I-33- formed by the blocks I34 bolted to the bar H3 by'the bolts I35. The C-bIocks I32 are clamped in place by the clamping bridge members I36 and the bolts I31. Pressure applied on the clamping bridges I36 by the bolts I31 places a preshearing load on the four elastomer members I21 at each end of the bar II3 and supports the armature I20 and frame -II4 for vibration. Ribs H9 may be secured to the frame II4 to rigidly brace or otherwise support a conveyor, screen or other structure the vibratory motor is to vibrate.

Iclaim:

1. An elastomer vibratory spring supporting means comprising an elastomer spring means having a natural frequency of vibration, members secured to opposite surfaces of the elastomer spring means, and means independent of the mass supported to apply a force on one of said members to deform and preload the elastomer spring means to vary the natural frequency of vibration of the same.

2. An elastomer vibratory spring supporting means comprising an elongated elastomer sleevev having a natural frequency of vibration, members secured to the inner and outer surfaces of the sleeve for mounting the elastomer spring means, and adjustable means to apply an axial force effective on the ends of the elastomer sleeve to preload and deform the elastomer sleeve independently of the mass supported to vary the natural frequency of vibration of the same.

3. An elastomer vibratory spring supporting means comprising a pair of elastomers having a natural frequency of vibration, a member secured to each of the opposite surfaces of each elastomer for mounting the same as a spring, means to mount one member of each elastomer fixed relative to each other with the elastomers in alignment, and adjustable means to exert pressure on the other of said members to preload and deform the elastomer spring means independently of the mass supported to vary the natural frequency of vibration of the same.

4. The structure of claim 3, characterized in that said pressure exerting means tends to move the other of said members together.

5. The structure of claim 3, characterized in that said pressure exerting means tends to move said other members apart.

6. The structure of claim 3 characterized in that said pressure exerting means includes a spring mounted between the aligned elastomers to exert a force thereon tending to flex them from each other, and a clamp means engaging the elastomers opposite to that of the spring to exert a force thereon opposing that of the spring.

'7. A vibrating mechanism comprising a base, a mass carrying frame to be vibrated, elastomer springs providing the sole support of said frame on said base, means independent of the mass supported to deform the elastomer spring means to tune the same, each tuned elastomer spring having its opposite faces engaging the base and the frame to support the latter for vibratory movement by the fiexure of the elastomer in a path at an acute angle to the horizontal to effect a conveying type of movement to the frame with vertical and horizontal components, and motor means to actuate said frame in its vibratory movement on said tuned spring means.

8. The structure of claim '7 characterized in 8 that said tuned elastomer springs include at- References Cited in the file of this patent taching member on each of the opposite faces UNITED STATES PA-I-ENTS engaging the base and the frame, and fastening means to secure said members to the base and to Number Name Date the frame and permit the tuned elastomer springs 5 g 32 2 h h i, 1 a 1 281112;? in a path at an acute angle to t e or 2,071,373 Wurzbach Feb. 23 1937 Th ct f i c 12 2,444,134 Hittson June 29, 1948 9 e stru ure 0 clam 7 chara ter ed 1 2.472637 Weyandt June 7 1949 that said elastomer deflecting means also aids in securing the elastomer springs relative to said 10 frame.

WILLIAM V. SPURLIN. 

